C. Bruce Brooks (1931-2016) was a chemical engineer and program manager for Thiokol Chemical Corporation (later Morton-Thiokol) from 1958 until his retirement in 1995. Thiokol is a leader in aerospace research, design, manufacturing, and testing of solid propellant rocket motors. This small collection of Brooks' papers provides valuable information about the development of solid rocket motors and early space flight. Of particular interest are trial materials related to the 1984 loss of two communications satellites, the Westar VI and the Palapa B-2. Brooks was program manager for designing and manufacturing the STAR 48 motors used in the satellites. The collection has been arranged into six series: Space programs publications and reports; Solid rocket motors (SRM) files; McDonnell Douglas Corporation v. Thiokol Corporation files; Newsletters, magazines, and technical papers; Company histories and personal papers; and Additional work papers.

The Thiokol Chemical Corporation was formed in 1929 for the production of synthetic rubber and other related chemicals. Headquartered in Trenton, New Jersey, the company moved into defense contracting in the 1940s and, after the Second World War, their product further evolved as both a rocket fuel and a binding agent in one. Thiokol eventually began the manufacture of rocket engines and grew into one of the world’s largest producers of solid rocket motors for the aerospace and defense industries. The records largely consist of documents related to the history and development of Thiokol, annual reports, information on the development of rockets, as well as publications relating to the aerospace industry.